Wrexham v Newport County: The Welsh derby between clubs who are miles apart

Tensions rise during Newport's FA Cup replay victory over Wrexham in 2018, in which Luke Young was sent off early on

"A derby? It's three hours up the road!"

Newport County boss Graham Coughlan may be stating fact when talk turns to this Saturday's League Two meeting with rival Welsh club Wrexham.

But, for the uninitiated, Wrexham against Newport is a fixture which comes with an edge these days. The 125-mile gap between the two is bridged by "unfinished business".

Long before the Hollywood takeover by Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney turned Wrexham into headline news, the north Wales club and Newport were rivals in the top tier of non-league football.

That changed on one memorable day at Wembley in 2013, when they met in the Conference Premier play-off final.

Newport won the game 2-0 to secure a return to the Football League and condemn Wrexham to what would turn out to be another 10 years in the non-league wilderness.

As Wrexham prepare to face Newport at the Stok Racecourse this Saturday, the pain of Wembley defeat still lingers for some.

"I've never watched the full game back," said Andy Morrell, Wrexham's manager at the time.

"My memory hurts me enough to not have to go through that again.

"It is still that painful for me unfortunately because I've seen what's happened at Wrexham in this last year or two with the promotion, and that's why I came back to Wrexham to play and manage them.

"That's exactly what I wanted to do with Wrexham - to get them back into the Football League.

"I didn't quite get there and it annoys me."

Wrexham's Martin Riley sums up his club's mood during the play-off final defeat to Newport in 2013

Sliding doors under the Wembley arch

Despite having most of the chances in the play-off final, Wrexham were beaten by goals in the final five minutes from Christian Jolley and Aaron O'Connor.

Newport would kick on and thrive back in League Two after a 25-year absence, while Wrexham would toil in their quest to join them at that level.

Morrell did not see out the following season as manager, leaving in February 2014.

"It was difficult," Morrell added.

"At that time, we really needed to get up. Financially it would have helped massively for the Supporters' Trust (who owned the club at the time) and for the club.

"You just don't know do you... if that had happened then, would this be happening now with the club?"

On the amber and black side of the fence, events are remembered slightly differently.

"They felt they were favourites and they thought they were better than us," said County fan Colin Burrows.

"But on the day, let's be honest, it's all about hitting the back of the net.

"I think it did make it more special because where we came from. When you've been playing in fields and all the things we had to put up with - we've always been the forgotten team of Wales.

"It was nice to get one over them."

Rivalry renewed in the FA Cup

After Wembley, Wrexham struggled for a long time to launch a realistic promotion challenge and Newport flirted with relegation on more than one occasion.

The two clubs met for the first time since the play-off final five years later, when they were drawn together in the second round of the 2018-19 FA Cup.

Absence had not made the heart grow fonder when the teams came out at the Racecourse.

"We go out to warm up before the game and we jogged into the Wrexham half where the Newport fans were and the whole stadium just started to erupt with boos," said former County defender Mark O'Brien.

"I was thinking, this game is actually bigger than I realised and we're really in a game here.

"Wrexham were on the front foot in the whole thing and they kind of battered us in fairness.

"I remember thinking, 'we got away with one here'."

The tie finished 0-0, meaning a replay at Rodney Parade which was a very different story.

"When we played them in the FA Cup, I promised to bring my son, but I had to work," said Wrexham fan Tim Green.

"'Don't worry', I said, 'if there's a replay we'll go down to Newport and watch the replay'.

"It was a Tuesday night, we travelled down to Newport and he was made up.

"Ten minutes into the game, Luke Young lunges in the middle of the pitch and almost takes the leg off the Newport player, gets sent off and Wrexham lose 4-0. Ever since that day there has been a debt to pay."

And, similarly to the aftermath of 2013, Wrexham had to watch and wonder what might have been as Newport used their cup victory to become the story of the competition that season.

The Exiles beat former Premier League champions Leicester City in the third round and Championship challengers Middlesbrough in round four, before welcoming Manchester City and Pep Guardiola to Rodney Parade as they made a first appearance in the fifth round in 70 years.

"I'm not sure we'd have beaten Leicester, but who knows maybe we would have," said former Wrexham captain Shaun Pearson.

"Newport seemed to have a couple of special cup campaigns over those couple of years, but it was frustrating because we felt like we should have won the first game.

"In the second game after the red card, we were beaten comfortably.

"It would have been nice to get through and have given ourselves a chance to cause an upset like Newport went on to do."

Mark O'Brien of Newport County and Luke Summerfield of Wrexham clash during the clubs' last meeting, in 2018

'Unfinished business'

Fast forward to the present day and both clubs look very different now than they did in 2018.

Newport are in the process of being taken over by former Swansea City chairman Huw Jenkins after posting losses of £1.2m in their last accounts in July, whilst Wrexham are chasing a second successive promotion after being transformed under the ownership of Reynolds and McElhenney.

"There's unfinished business, or something between the two teams," said O'Brien, the former defender who scored the winning goal to keep County in the League in 2017.

"There's a rivalry that's been built up over the years and come Saturday, I think it's going to be a memorable atmosphere.

"People are always saying 'you have to beat Wrexham, you have to beat them'.

"For what we did in the play-offs and in the FA Cup, I just think it's something where the Wrexham fans always have that little bit against Newport, because Newport have been that successful team."

Yet on Saturday, Wrexham will start the day 14 places and 14 points ahead of Newport as north and south Wales bragging rights are up for grabs again.

The hosts want to close the chapter on one of the most painful days in their recent history, whilst their opponents are trying to upset the odds all over again against 'local' rivals.

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